2015-08-31

UPDATE Sept 3, 2015: Inside the Politics of Chinese Market Intervention: Government of China is intervening in China's stock markets by buying stocks on the Chinese Markets and in other ways-- Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Jamie Metzl weighs in on the China slowdown. He speaks on "Bloomberg Markets," September 2, 2015.

SocGen: Half-Hearted Capital Controls Are Coming to China - Bloomberg Business: "To reduce the extent to which the People's Bank of China needs to offset outflows with foreign exchange intervention, the economist sees a high probability that capital controls will soon be instituted... This solution, the economist admits, is only a temporary one, as the People's Bank of China doesn't have an unlimited amount of foreign assets to sell to defend the currency. And while a free-floating currency would cause too much short-term stress, this Band-Aid approach won't stop the bleeding. "Not letting the currency go requires significant FX intervention that will not prevent ongoing capital outflows but which will result in tightening domestic liquidity conditions; but letting the currency go risks more immense capital outflow pressures in the immediate short term, external debt defaults and possibly further domestic investment deceleration," says Yao."UPDATE: If the Options Market Is Right, China's Stock Rescue Is Doomed - 30 Aug 2015 - Bloomberg Business: "... While policy makers are trying to bolster the market before President Xi Jinping takes the stage in a World War II victory parade this week, bears argue that valuations are too high for the rally to last. Chinese investors have about 5 trillion yuan ($783 billion) of borrowed money riding on stocks, and many of them are looking for a chance to exit, according to Bank of America Corp..."

Is China in the Midst of a Hard Landing? Gordon Chang, author of "The Coming Collapse of China," discusses the outlook for China's economy with Bloomberg's Joe Weisenthal and Alix Steel on "What'd You Miss?" on August 28, 2015.

Jeffrey Gundlach says US equity markets face another major leg down: "The U.S. stock market is in a mode of uncertainty, at best. You don't correct all of this in three days."--DoubleLine Capital's co-founder Jeffrey Gundlach, in a telephone interview with Reuters, last Monday.

The Week Ahead: Death Cross patterns; will global markets rain on China's parade?

‘Death cross’ patterns spread like a bearish virus - MarketWatch: "Many chart watchers believe a death cross indicates that a shorter-term decline has developed into a longer-term downtrend. There were 263 stocks within the S&P 500, or about 53%, that had a 50-day moving average (MA) below their 200-day MAs through afternoon trade Friday [Aug 28, 2015]. Shares of the biggest S&P 500 company by market capitalization, Apple Inc. AAPL, +0.33% produced a death cross on Aug. 26 ... the Dow Jones Industrial Average produced a death cross on Aug. 11. The blue-chip index was down 47 points in recent trade, and had lost nearly 800 points since the pattern appeared. On Friday, 18 Dow stocks, or 60%, had death crosses hanging over them. Many have questioned whether a well-telegraphed moving average crossover is really a bearish signal or not. But at the end of 2008, three months before the market bottomed, all 30 Dow stocks had produced death crosses."

But markets recovered last week due to intervention by the government of China buying stocks on the Chinese markets (and selling U.S. Treasuries), thereby stopping the downward spiral of Chinese, and global, stock markets. And the reason China's government intervened? China's "authorities want to stabilize equities before a Sept. 3 military parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the World War II victory over Japan, said two of the people, who asked not to be identified because the move wasn’t publicly announced" according to Bloomberg.

Community feedback is requested on this 2nd draft proposal of proposed enhancements to ICANN's accountability framework that the CCWG-Accountability has identified as essential to happen or be committed to before the IANA Stewardship Transition takes place (Work Stream 1). Comments are due by the deadline of 12 September 2015 at 23:59 UTC.

"... consistent with the CCWG request, the Board will have an open teleconference with the CCWG to help inform the Board's development of its comments to be submitted into the Public Comment forum before the close of the comment period on 12 September. Call details will be announced so that anyone in the community may participate..."

Payanywhere.com"Accept Apple Pay and magnetic stripe transactions on your phone and tablet. Purchase now in Apple Stores for only $39.95 and get your first $5000 in transactions free!... PayAnywhere Mobile allows you to accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover and PayPal cards all at the same low rate, wherever and whenever you're doing business. The free credit card reader transforms your Apple or Android smartphone or tablet into a mobile credit card reader. Offering ease of use, the most robust mobile payments processing app, and live customer support, PayAnywhere will take your business where it needs to go."

Reserve Bank of India Governor Raghuram Rajan has called on the Government of India to get cracking on reforms. In an exclusive conversation with Bloomberg TV India's Siddharth Zarabi, Rajan stressed on the need for sustained reform momentum to ensure India stands out in a volatile global environment. Above is the exclusive interview. Published on Aug 5, 2015.

"Raghuram Govind Rajan (born 3 February 1963) is the current and the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, having taken charge of India's central banking institution on 4 September 2013, and succeeding Duvvuri Subbarao. Rajan was chief economic adviser to India's Ministry of Finance during the previous year and chief economist at the International Monetary Fund from 2003 to 2007. He is on leave of absence as a professor of finance at the graduate business school at the University of Chicago. Raghuram Rajan was born 1963 in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh in a Tamil family and his father was a senior officer in the Intelligence Bureau (India). He did his schooling from 7th to 12th standard in Delhi Public School, RK Puram and graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering in 1985, after which he acquired a Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from the Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad in 1987. He won Director's Gold Medal in IIT Delhi and was a Gold medalist at IIM Ahmedabad. He received a Ph.D. in Management from the MIT Sloan School of Management in 1991 for his thesis titled "Essays on Banking"." (Wikipedia)

2015-08-29

"ICANN controls the operation of these top level domains and maintains substantial rights over them through its operation of the DNS, control of the Root Zone Database, and authority to redelegate Iran’s top level domains. ICANN claims that it has never entered into any type of agreement with Iran relating to its country code top level domains, and has never obtained funds or contributions relating to these country-code top level domains. (24.4-24.5). But that is impossible. Either ICANN or one of its predecessors in interest necessarily conveyed those top level domains to Iran for an indefinite period and for Iran’s indefinite use and enjoyment while retaining control over the Root Zone Database and maintaining authority to redelegate the domains. Absent such a conveyance by ICANN to Iran, there is no rational explanation (ICANN offers none) for the present state of affairs."--Excerpt from Plaintiffs' brief, infra, emphasis added)

Plaintiffs, on August 26, 2015, filed their brief in the ICANN litigation concerning whether ccTLDs (Country Code Top-Level Domains), and specifically those of Iran (.IR), Syria and North Korea, are subject to legal attachment in order to satisfy a civil judgment (ICANN is Third Party Garnishee-Appellee):

Whether country-code top level domain names and IP addresses assigned to the judgment debtors are property or might be property subject to attachment under District of Columbia law, including D.C. CODE § 16-544?

Whether the district court abused its discretion in failing to allow discovery so that it could better determine whether country-code top level domain names and IP addresses assigned to the judgment debtors are property or might be property subject to attachment under District of Columbia law, including D.C. CODE § 16-544?

Whether this Court should certify the fundamental questions in this appeal, which are important questions of first impression turning solely on the proper interpretation of District of Columbia statute, to the District of Columbia Court of Appeals for its resolution?

The legal argument of Plaintiffs-Appellants is summarized in the index below:

Screenshot of Appellants Argument Index

The outcome of this appeal could have ramifications upon the IANA stewardship transition and ICANN's U.S. jurisdiction. Oral arguments have not yet been scheduled.

Bloomberg TV India special series: Transforming India With Arvind Panagariya -- Arvind Panagariya is the Vice Chairman of Niti Aayog of India. He is an Indian-American economist and Professor of Economics at Columbia University and an ex-Chief Economist at the Asian Development Bank. Vivek Law asks him about Prime Minister of India's much talked about Gujarat Model and his mantra of devolving power to the states. Panagariya says, "The key to Gujarat's success is good governance."

Transforming India With Arvind Panagariya:Need Change In Manufacturing Policies
Urban Slum Rehabilitation Has Failed
GST Will Simplify A Complex Tax System
End Monopoly In Education
NREGA Design Curtails Asset Creation
Land Acquisition Norms Have To Be Fixed

.COM Domain Names - Verisign: "As the foremost established [TLD or top-level] domain, with a record of more than 15 years of reliability, .COM domain names invoke trust. It’s where customers want to do business online."

The "FAKE" Goldman Sachs in Shenzhen:

Video above: Shenzhen Firm Calls Itself 'Goldman Sachs' -- China may have a reputation for knock-offs, everything from bags and watches to smartphones, but what about cloning a famous global lender? Bloomberg's Shai Oster reports on "Trending Business" on August 27, 2015.

"Enforcement of intellectual property laws in China is lax and counterfeiting of brands and products is rife. Several foreign firms have been embroiled in court cases over imitators. Basketball star Michael Jordan in July lost a case against a Chinese sportswear company that used the Chinese version of his name." --The Guardian

This is why ICANN's new gTLDs (new generic top-level domain names) are a cybersquatter's and cybercriminal's dream come true--and who is profiting besides thecybersquatter or cybercriminal?--ICANN, the new gTLD registry operators, and the new gTLD registrars! Talk about e-friction--read this piece of ICANN hypocrisy--ICANN and its new gTLDs are a source of tremendous global e-friction or "impediments, costs and losses incurred by internet users and businesses" due to ICANN's expansion of gTLDs from just 22 to now more more than 700, including increased costs and losses incurred in "defensive domain name registrations" and trademark infringement.

Heard of China’s Fake Rolexes? Now There’s a Fake Goldman Sachs - Bloomberg Business: "The Shenzhen Goldman Sachs’s website was inaccessible as of Wednesday, though it could be viewed in screen grabs captured by the union.“There have been quite a few cases where Chinese individuals or organizations have registered in China the trademark of an existing and established overseas brand,” Paul Haswell, a Hong Kong-based partner at law firm Pinsent Masons, said in an e-mail.“It’s notoriously difficult for an overseas claimant to persuade the Chinese courts that there has been trademark infringement,” said Haswell. “There’s still a practice of whoever registers first wins.”"

UPDATE August 28, 2015: European Publishers Play Lobbying Role Against Google - The New York Times: "... Even Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, whose European interests include the British newspapers The Times and The Sun and The Wall Street Journal Europe, joined the fray, urging the European Commission last fall to take action against Google, which it labeled a “platform for piracy.” ... Mr. Almunia left the investigation to his successor, Ms. Vestager, who announced antitrust charges against Google in April. Many publishers backed the move, saying the company’s business model had limited online choice for consumers. “Europe’s publishers are well-organized, well-connected and a really powerful lobby,” said Stefan Heumann, director of the European digital agenda program at the New Responsibility Foundation, a Berlin-based research organization. “Many of them are struggling to grasp the realities of the new digital world.”UPDATE:FairSearch statement regarding Google's response to the Statement of Objections - FAIR SEARCH: Brussels, 27 August 2015 – "We have seen this movie before. Defendants in big European antitrust cases have made the same arguments. Just like Google here, they have argued that the EC is incorrectly defining the market in which harm is occurring. They also argued, just like Google now, that even if one accepts the EC’s market definition, there was no harm to competition in that market. And they argued, again like Google today, that the antitrust authorities just don’t get it, and that the remedy they demand cannot be implemented without causing technical and market chaos. The truth, as in previous cases, is that the Commission has properly defined the market into which Google has leveraged its overwhelming dominance in search, namely the shopping (price) comparison market. Google has decimated competition in that market by preferencing its own product comparison service in its search results, and consumers have been harmed — and paid higher prices – because Google has cornered the shopping comparison market. And the truth is that the Commission understands the markets and the technology very well, and Google is perfectly capable of implementing a remedy that provides equal treatment both to its own product comparison service and to those of others. The Commission is completely correct that this is the only remedy that is principles-based and future-proof. Please see our chronology for details of the case."

Google and Shopping video (above) published August 27, 2015 - "Since Google was founded, we have worked to make it easier for people to find what they are looking for. We have a simple belief: focus on the user, and all else will follow. This is at the heart of how we show products in Search, in which we show users the most relevant results by working directly with merchants to present accurate specs, trustworthy reviews, competitive prices and the quickest means of purchase. While technology and behaviors may evolve and change, our focus on the user will always remain the same."

"Google has always worked to improve its services, creating new ways to provide better answers and show more useful ads. We’ve taken seriously the concerns in the European Commission’s Statement of Objections (SO) that our innovations are anti-competitive. The response we filed today shows why we believe those allegations are incorrect, and why we believe that Google increases choice for European consumers and offers valuable opportunities for businesses of all sizes ... Our response provides evidence and data to show why the SO’s concerns are unfounded. We use traffic analysis to rebut claims that our ad displays and specialized organic results harmed competition by preventing shopping aggregators from reaching consumers. Economic data spanning more than a decade, an array of documents, and statements from complainants all confirm that product search is robustly competitive. And we show why the SO is incorrect in failing to consider the impact of major shopping services like Amazon and eBay, who are the largest players in this space ... Moreover, the ways people search for, compare, and buy products are rapidly evolving. Users on desktop and mobile devices often want to go straight to trusted merchants who have established an online presence. These kinds of developments reflect a dynamic and competitive industry, where companies are continuing to evolve their business models and online and offline markets are converging..." -- Kent Walker, Google SVP & General Counsel, Google Europe Blog: Improving quality isn’t anti-competitive

Background:European Commission - Antitrust: Commission sends Statement of Objections to Google on comparison shopping service; opens separate formal investigation on Android: "Brussels, 15 April 2015: The European Commission has sent a Statement of Objections to Google alleging the company has abused its dominant position in the markets for general internet search services in the European Economic Area (EEA) by systematically favouring its own comparison shopping product in its general search results pages. The Commission's preliminary view is that such conduct infringes EU antitrust rules because it stifles competition and harms consumers. Sending a Statement of Objections does not prejudge the outcome of the investigation.
The Commission has also formally opened a separate antitrust investigation into Google's conduct as regards the mobile operating system Android. The investigation will focus on whether Google has entered into anti-competitive agreements or abused a possible dominant position in the field of operating systems, applications and services for smart mobile devices.
EU Commissioner in charge of competition policy Margrethe Vestager said: "The Commission's objective is to apply EU antitrust rules to ensure that companies operating in Europe, wherever they may be based, do not artificially deny European consumers as wide a choice as possible or stifle innovation".
"In the case of Google I am concerned that the company has given an unfair advantage to its own comparison shopping service, in breach of EU antitrust rules. Google now has the opportunity to convince the Commission to the contrary. However, if the investigation confirmed our concerns, Google would have to face the legal consequences and change the way it does business in Europe."
"I have also launched a formal antitrust investigation of Google’s conduct concerning mobile operating systems, apps and services. Smartphones, tablets and similar devices play an increasing role in many people's daily lives and I want to make sure the markets in this area can flourish without anticompetitive constraints imposed by any company.""For further information:

2015-08-27

Video above--Europe Stocks Rebound as Chinese Selloff Halts--August 27, 2015: European stocks joined a global relief rally as Chinese shares snapped a five-day losing streak. Shares rose in Europe and Asia after the biggest advance in U.S. stocks in four years on Wednesday helped restore some appetite for riskier assets. Developing-nation currencies rebounded from a record low and a surge in the last hour of trading in Shanghai sent Chinese stocks to their biggest gains in seven weeks.

The REAL Liquidity Trap: Global Markets are now addicted to Central Banks and Governments intervening and manipulating everything from interest rates to currencies to equities (stocks).

Want proof?

Seeking Alpha: "Shares across the globe are skyrocketing after Wall Street cracked a six-day losing streak with its best rally in nearly four years. With momentum turning to the upside, investors seem to be covering their positions, while long-term bulls snap up perceived bargains. The rebound is also being attributed to falling expectations the Fed will soon raise interest rates. On Wednesday, NY Fed President William Dudley said a September hike seemed "less compelling" given recent global economic uncertainty."

China Intervened Today to Shore Up Stocks Ahead of Military Parade - Bloomberg: "China’s government resumed its intervention in the stock market on Thursday and has been cutting holdings of U.S. Treasuries this month to support the yuan, according to people familiar with the matter. Authorities want to stabilize equities before a Sept. 3 military parade celebrating the 70th anniversary of the World War II victory over Japan, said two of the people, who asked not to be identified because the move wasn’t publicly announced. Treasury sales allow policy makers to raise dollars needed to bolster the yuan after a shock devaluation two weeks ago, according to different people familiar with the matter. China revived its equity purchases after the government’s absence from the market earlier this week contributed to the biggest two-day selloff since 1996. Under a new exchange-rate regime announced Aug. 11, the central bank relies on intervention to manage the yuan instead of its daily fixing. China’s surprise policy shifts have jolted markets worldwide as investors struggle to gauge their impact on the world’s second-largest economy."China’s Stocks Surge in Late Trading to Halt Five-Day Plunge - Bloomberg: "Stocks failed to sustain gains on Wednesday after the central bank cut interest rates and reduced the amount of required reserves for banks. The index tumbled 42 percent from its mid-June peak through Wednesday to erase more than $5 trillion of value as margin traders closed out bullish bets and concern deepened that valuations are unjustified by the weak economic outlook. Stocks on mainland bourses trade at a median 49 times reported earnings, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s the most among the 10 largest markets and more than three times the 18 multiple for the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index."
Forget the headlines--nothing has changed from a few days ago--governments and central banks are intervening and actively manipulating global markets, even in secret, unannounced ways (see China stories above). This never ends well.

But when will it end? Probably when a sufficient number of market investors lose confidence in central banks' and governments' ability or willingness to continue to manipulate. Right now, enough "market investors" are still willing to be "market speculators" -- in effect placing casino-like bets on future "Fed policy" and "Chinese government manipulation." How high will valuations go in this giant global Ponzi-like scheme?

Tencent Invests $50 Million in Messaging AppKik--making it a "unicorn"--total valuation now of one billion dollars ($US): Kik co-founder and CIO Chris Best discusses the race to build a chat platform with Emily Chang on “Bloomberg West.” (Source: Bloomberg, 19 Aug 2015)

2015-08-26

"The Board is deeply engaged in reviewing the CCWG-Accountability proposal and has actively participated in the process. Consistent with our commitment to transparency, we would like to share with the Community the steps in our review process.

"Last week, the ICANN Board submitted a preliminary set of comments to the CCWG-Accountability Public Comment forum. The Board remains committed to engaging and working with the CCWG on solutions to address concerns raised in its preliminary set of comments.

"A subset of ICANN Board Members and Staff Members have been meeting in Washington, DC on Tuesday and Wednesday this week to further consider the CCWG proposal and commence a review of an impact analysis from ICANN's external counsel. As part of this meeting, the group held a call together with the CCWG Chairs. For full transparency and to clarify the basis for the review points and comments, ICANN will share the impact analysis and publish it in the CCWG Public Comment forum. The Board welcomes feedback from the CCWG on the impact analysis as it finalizes its responses to the CCWG proposal in the Public Comment forum.

"Next week, consistent with the CCWG request, the Board will have an open teleconference with the CCWG to help inform the Board's development of its comments to be submitted into the Public Comment forum before the close of the comment period on 12 September. Call details will be announced so that anyone in the community may participate.

"Finally, in light of the importance of these discussions, we propose that the CCWG-Accountability hold a public meeting in Los Angeles in late September to continue the dialogue with the Board on the CCWG proposal.

"As part of the ICANN community, we will continue to work constructively to help the CCWG finalize the proposal to achieve a successful IANA Stewardship transition and an ICANN with enhanced accountability. We remain appreciative of the CCWG's valuable work." (emphasis added)

Meet YouTube Gaming, Twitch’s Archenemy | TechCrunch: "YouTube just launched YouTube Gaming on the web, Android and iOS. As expected, YouTube Gaming goes head-to-head against Twitch, mirroring many popular features of the existing gaming streaming giant ...YouTube has definitely put a lot of resources into this launch with a service already available on the three main platforms. We will see whether old habits die hard, but YouTube Gaming looks like a heavyweight and Twitch’s most serious competitor to date."

"Chinese equities have lost half their value since mid-June, as margin traders closed out bullish bets and concern deepened that valuations are unjustified by the weak economic outlook ... “The prevailing sentiment is still that investors want to cash out, whatever the government does,” said Ronald Wan, chief executive at Partners Capital International in Hong Kong. “Confidence is already damaged. Doubts over the effectiveness of policies are getting bigger. The market will remain under selling pressure for a while.” The People’s Bank of China said it will cut the one-year lending rate by 25 basis points to 4.6 percent and lower the required reserve ratio by 50 basis points for all banks. The move, which follows the biggest devaluation of the yuan in two decades earlier this month, comes amid signs of decelerating growth for the world’s second-biggest economy. A rate cut failed to boost the market for a second straight time as stocks ended lower after the last reduction in June." source: Bloomberg Business(emphasis added)

Unicorns, China, and the Fed--Where do we go from here?

Unicorns: Marc Benioff says "We may see a lot of dead unicorns."--Unicorns May Struggle in Tougher Market--Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff discusses the selloff in the stock market and his concerns about technology and Web-based companies that have raised money at valuations exceeding $1 billion, called unicorns. He speaks with Bloomberg's Emily Chang, August 24, 2015, in the video above.

China: The Shanghai Composite Index has lost 22 percent in four days--steepest retreat since 1996--to 2,964.967 on Tuesday. DeMark Says Chinese Stocks Are at Make-or-Break Inflection Point - Bloomberg Business: "Tom DeMark, who predicted this month’s selloff in Chinese stocks, said the Shanghai Composite Index may extend its decline by 13 percent should it stay below a critical technical level on Wednesday. A failure to close above 3,200, or almost 8 percent higher than the Tuesday’s level, may open the way for a move to 2,590, which would be the lowest since November, according to DeMark, founder of DeMark Analytics. An advance above that level, however, would signal the stock rout which has wiped out more than $4 trillion in market value, may be over, he said. “We are teetering on the edge,” DeMark, 68, who has spent more than 40 years developing indicators to identify market turning points, said by phone from Scottsdale, Arizona."

The Fed: China may be the "bunker buster" to the US Federal Reserve's plans to raise interest rates in September. Citi: The Fed Will Still Hike in September, But There's One Big Wild Card Ahead - Bloomberg Business: "Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer's appearance at the forthcoming Jackson Hole economic policy symposium [Aug. 27-29, 2015] is the 'key wild card' ... If he shows signs of worrying that the transitory downward pressures (commodity and energy prices and the appreciating dollar) ... THAT would be a big event ... [suggesting] reduced confidence in reaching the Fed inflation target in the medium term."

ICANN plans to publish the WHOIS Accuracy Reporting System Phase I report in the coming weeks. A webinar is scheduled for 26 August 2015, and will focus on the findings of the report and its implications for the community, including domain name registrants:

Additional background and webinar info:
Participants will learn about the results of the Phase 1 Syntactical Validation Study, which measured the overall syntactical (formatting) accuracy of WHOIS records. The results will include comparisons based on Registrar Accreditation Agreements (2009 RAA v. 2013 RAA), top-level domain types (e.g., new or "legacy" gTLDs) and across ICANN regions.The WHOIS Accuracy Reporting System is an ICANN initiative born out of recommendations from the 2012 WHOIS Review to improve oversight of the WHOIS Program. ICANN committed to proactively identifying potentially inaccurate gTLD WHOIS contact data and forwarding potentially inaccurate records to gTLD registrars for investigation and follow up. A pilot study conducted in 2014, which acted as a proof of concept of this system, was designed with the intention of testing its key components so the framework could be leveraged to develop repeatable processes to produce assessments. Phase 1 takes lessons learned from the pilot study and operationalizes the Accuracy Reporting System. The Phase 1 report will provide information to the community on overall WHOIS accuracy, leading types of nonconformances (based on the applicable Registrar Accreditation Agreement), and data that ICANN's Compliance team will be required to follow up on with registrars regarding potentially inaccurate records.

2015-08-25

UPDATE August 25, 2015: Rally in US stocks failed in final hours today--Relief Rally Evaporates in U.S. Stocks as China Anxiety Bubbles - Bloomberg Business: "A rebound that took the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 440 points disappeared as traders said trepidation over what will happen in China’s market made holding on to stocks too risky for most investors.The 30-stock index slid 1.3 percent to 15,665.77 at 4 p.m. in New York, down 4 percent from its highest point. The peak-to-trough retreat matched Monday’s selloff, when concern about global growth ignited the worst selloff in four years. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index went from up 2.9 percent to down 1.4 percent, with most of the selling concentrated in the final two hours of trading."

How bad is the situation, really, in China? How desperate are Chinese leaders? Answers below.

China to Flood Economy With Cash as Global Markets Lose Faith - WSJ: "...“Views about China’s economic prospects appear to be shifting from serious concern to near panic,” said Eswar Prasad, a Cornell University professor and former China head for the International Monetary Fund ... some big-name Chinese technology companies are reporting softening markets. Electronics maker Lenovo Group Ltd. [domain name: lenovo.com] called the past quarter “perhaps the toughest market environment in recent years.” Phone maker Xiaomi Corp. [domain name: mi.com], which had ridden the wave of first-time smartphone buying in China to rack up triple-digit growth in recent years, now has to look for such growth elsewhere. For the first time in six years, China’s smartphone sales are declining."

See also: China's stock market crash, explained in charts - Vox, and note #11: Chinese trusts are making highly leveraged bets--This practice of making investments with borrowed money is known as leverage, and it's not just individual Chinese investors who are doing it. Trusts are a bit like American investment banks or private equity funds: They provide investment opportunities for wealthy clients. And in recent years, they've become a popular way for those clients to evade limits on buying stocks with borrowed funds. This (use of "high leverage") never ends well.

TV, Mobile Phones and a Fundamental Change in Advertising: Richard Greenfield, media and technology analyst at BTIG, discusses the downturn in television advertising as ads migrate to mobile phones and streaming media. He speaks on "Bloomberg Surveillance" August 21, 2015.

If you are interested in attending the webinar and would like to receive dial-in details, send an email to acct-staff@icann.org and indicate your language request (if needed).

The webinar will be conducted in English. Live interpretation services are available in Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Livestreaming translation in RU will be unavailable for this call. A translation of the transcript will be provided after the meeting. ZH interpretation will be available for the first 90 minutes of the call, thereafter, please join the Virtual Meeting Room and/or English line for the remaining 30 minutes. PT interpretation will be available for the first 90 minutes of the call, thereafter, please join the Virtual Meeting Room and/or English line for the remaining 30 minutes.

The webinar will also be recorded and transcribed--transcripts will be posted on the CCWG-Accountability Wiki here.

Background:

The CCWG on Enhancing ICANN Accountability published its 2nd Draft Proposal on Work Stream 1 Recommendations for 40-day public comment on 3 August 2015. Community feedback is requested on this draft proposal of proposed enhancements to ICANN's accountability framework that the CCWG-Accountability has identified as essential to happen or be committed to before the IANA Stewardship Transition takes place.

Community feedback will help the CCWG-Accountability to improve its proposal and carry on with next steps, including Chartering Organizations' endorsement of the CCWG-Accountability recommendations before it is submitted to the ICANN Board during or shortly after ICANN54 in Dublin in October 2015.In order to brief the community on the contents of their 2nd Draft Proposal, the CCWG-Accountability co-Chairs hosted two identical briefing webinars on 4 and 7 August at different times to facilitate participation across time zones. To provide the community with an additional opportunity to ask questions, a repeat session will be held on August 25th as indicated above.

Five Tech Stocks Leading the Year's Biggest Losses - "Bloomberg's Oliver Renick and Michael Regan report on share declines in the tech industry. They speak on "Bloomberg Markets" Friday, August 21, 2015. Total losses now exceed over $100 billion in market capitalization.

Oil is incredibly important right now. If oil falls to around $40 a barrel then I think the yield on ten year treasury note is going to 1%. I hope it does not go to $40 because then something is very, very wrong with the world, not just the economy. The geopolitical consequences could be – to put it bluntly – terrifying. -- Jeff Gundlach, DoubleLine, December 9. 2014

Q. How about the risk that the drop in oil prices spills over into the financial markets?Jeff Gundlach: Something between 14 and 19% of the junk bond market are energy related. So when you have oil prices staying where they are for several months – which is likely because that is a policy decision that some oil producers have made – some of these companies will start to really run into financial troubles. Now, some people are saying: 'That is confined to energy, it is a pocket of the economy, everything else is OK and insulated.' But that argument usually does not work. When the housing market started to get weak in the subprime category, even Ben Bernanke said: 'That does not matter, it is just subprime.' But things are linked together.

"It's always different. The one thing that is constant in the world of investing is change... Things are always changing." -- Jeff Gundlach, 9 Dec 2014, Business Insider

China's slowdown, among other macroeconomic concerns, has spooked global investors. Beijing's handling of a stock market spike, "panic responses" from investors and recent currency devaluation has "given investors pause," Chanos said. "It's worse than you think. Whatever you might think, it's worse ... People are beginning to realize the Chinese government is not omnipotent and omniscient. In fact, like many of us, sometimes they don't have a clue," said Chanos.

China, one of the world's largest energy consumers, has also added pressure to already sagging commodities. Crude oil fell again on Friday, with West Texas Intermediate breaking below $40 per barrel for the first time since 2009.

Chanos on:

Energy: He dislikes Shell and Chevron.

Solar City: Chanos unveiled a bet against the stock Friday, outlining its continued losses and what he sees as weakness in its operating model.

HP: "We think it's challenged business. Despite Meg's best efforts, I think they're in businesses that are in secular decline."

Caterpillar: heavy equipment companies will have "the wind in their face" for the foreseeable future.

Digital India Week (Wikipedia)At the launch ceremony of Digital India Week by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, top CEOs from India and abroad committed to invest towards this initiative. The CEOs said the investments would be utilitized towards making smartphones and internet devices at an affordable price in India which would help generate jobs in India as well as reduce the cost of importing them from abroad. 9 Key points of Digital India Programme are as follows:

Broadband Highways

Universal Access to Phones

Public Internet Access Programme

e-Governance – Reforming Government through Technology

e-Kranti – Electronic delivery of Services

Information for All

Electronics Manufacturing – Target NET ZERO Imports

IT for Jobs

Early Harvest Programmes

Digital India (Wikipedia): "Digital India is an initiative of Government of India to integrate the government departments and the people of India. It aims at ensuring that the government services are made available to citizens electronically by reducing paperwork. The initiative also includes plan to connect rural areas with high-speed internet networks. Digital India has three core components. These include:

In a report likely to have wide-ranging ramifications--from Apple to Android OS manufacturers--Gartner (gartner.com) says smartphone sales have fallen for the first time in China, and the market is saturated:

"Gartner, Inc. said worldwide smartphone sales recorded the slowest growth rate since 2013 in the second quarter of 2015. Worldwide sales of smartphones to end users totaled 330 million units, an increase of 13.5 percent over the same period in 2014 (see Table 1). "While demand for lower-cost 3G and 4G smartphones continued to drive growth in emerging markets, overall smartphone sales remained mixed region by region in the second quarter of 2015," said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner. Emerging Asia/Pacific (excluding China), Eastern Europe and Middle East and Africa were the fastest-growing regions, driven by good performance from Chinese and local vendors. "By contrast, smartphone sales in China fell for the first time year over year, recording a 4 percent decline. "China is the biggest country for smartphone sales, representing 30 percent of total sales of smartphones in the second quarter of 2015. Its poor performance negatively affected the performance of the mobile phone market in the second quarter," said Mr. Gupta. "China has reached saturation — its phone market is essentially driven by replacement, with fewer first-time buyers. Beyond the lower-end phone segment, the appeal of premium smartphones will be key for vendors to attract upgrades and to maintain or grow their market share in China." Despite the launch of new S6 models, Samsung's premium phones continued to be challenged by Apple's large-screen iPhones. Samsung lost 4.3 percentage points in market share and declined 5.3 percent in unit sales in the second quarter of 2015. Huawei recorded the highest sales growth rate of 46.3 percent, thanks to strong overseas sales and 4G smartphone sales in China. iPhone sales increased 36 percent, which helped Apple gain 2.4 percentage points in market share..."